Nick Saban, minority owner of Predators, to join search committee for team's next general manager
Nashville said Saban will bring his knowledge of culture-building to the committee
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1 min read
The Nashville Predators are beginning their search for a new general manager. Barry Trotz announced his decision to step down from the post on Monday, and as majority owner Bill Haslam looks for a new general manager, he'll get some help from Nick Saban.
Back in December, Saban purchased a minority stake in the Predators, and his knowledge about leadership will already come in handy. While the team will hire CAA to coordinate and contact candidates, the Predators will form a search committee, and Haslam said the group will get insights from Saban on "building culture" as they look at each candidate.
"We've hired CAA to coordinate the search for us. We have a search committed that I will lead, but Barry and [CEO Sean Henry] and Michelle Kennedy, our president will be on," Haslam said. "... Nick Saban, who is our newest owner and has a little familiarity with winning organizations, has agreed to be on the committee as well."
Saban may be retired from coaching, but he still wants to be involved with sports, and owning a share of the Predators allowed him to do that. In a statement from the announcement, Saban said he still has a "competitive nature and a great passion for sports."
If Nashville is going to rely on anyone outside the hockey world for this hire, it may as well be Saban. No other college football coach has more national championships than Saban's seven, and he developed Alabama into a perennial powerhouse over the course of his 17-year tenure. Under Saban, the Crimson Tide went 206-29-0 with six national titles.
The Predators, meanwhile, have been on a downward trend since winning the Presidents' Trophy in 2017-18. The team has missed the postseason in two of the last three years, and it hasn't won a playoff series in eight years. The next general manager will have to make some tough directions about the long-term future of a the franchise -- including whether a full rebuild will be required to restore the Predators to Stanley Cup contender status.
